Blogcritics Comments on The Friday Morning Listen: John Mellencamp - Scarecrow

Comment by Cindy on The Friday Morning Listen: John Mellencamp - Scarecrow

Tue, 13 May 2008 12:34:12 EDT

As a longtime JM fan, I have to admit, I find your blog refreshing. You can agree to disagree in a somewhat lighthearted way without the caustic comments. I was looking forward to this musical. I had a road trip penciled in for Atlanta, April of 2009. I think this project has been in the works for a good 8 or 9 years. I guess I'll have to wait just a few more. As an added note, this play was work shopped last year in NYC.Peter Askin, whose New York credits include "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," was recently hired to direct.I hope this project is truly only postponed.I'm keeping my calendar open. I'll leave you with a recent performance of "Scarecrow" at the Housing Works Bookstore in Soho, NY benefiting the homeless living in NYC with Aids/HIV. No wonder John was just awarded The Champion Award by the ASCAP foundation for his humanitarian efforts. A truly electric performance.

Comment by Mat Brewster on The Friday Morning Listen: John Mellencamp - Scarecrow

Tue, 13 May 2008 11:20:07 EDT

I like a good musical. I like the theatre in general, but throw in a few good songs and I'm soooo there.

Comment by Josh Hathaway on The Friday Morning Listen: John Mellencamp - Scarecrow

Tue, 13 May 2008 09:35:32 EDT

Isn't that a contradiction in terms?

Comment by S.Rod on The Friday Morning Listen: John Mellencamp - Scarecrow

Mon, 12 May 2008 13:42:19 EDT

What's wrong with a good musical? I took M.Sahm to his first musical last year and he enjoyed it. I know you guys (Mark & Josh) would love it.

Comment by Jude on The Friday Morning Listen: John Mellencamp - Scarecrow

Sun, 11 May 2008 08:10:44 EDT

Mark, I'll bet you can't wait for God Help The Girl to come out!

Comment by Josh Hathaway on The Friday Morning Listen: John Mellencamp - Scarecrow

Sat, 10 May 2008 09:39:27 EDT

Mark and I have accidentally stumbled on to something else to agree upon: musicals. Cringe is a good word.

Comment by Phillip Winn on The Friday Morning Listen: John Mellencamp - Scarecrow

Sat, 10 May 2008 01:30:09 EDT

I'm glad you came around, Mark!

Comment by Mat Brewster on The Friday Morning Listen: John Mellencamp - Scarecrow

Fri, 9 May 2008 20:36:52 EDT

Watch out Mark, somewhere Mary is waiting behind a corner ready to knock the snot out of you with a copy of the Sound of Music. I'm reading the Stand right now. Well sort of, it is a bathroom read which means I've been reading it for the last six months. I'm up to page 700 now so it should only take another three months to get through.

Comment by Mark Saleski on The Friday Morning Listen: John Mellencamp - Scarecrow

Fri, 9 May 2008 19:07:07 EDT

there are plenty of good musicals out there i dunno. they mostly just make me cringe.

Comment by JC Mosquito on The Friday Morning Listen: John Mellencamp - Scarecrow

Fri, 9 May 2008 18:25:31 EDT

Actually, when Born in the USA came out, Petty, Seger & Mellencamp all started sounding much better to me than the Boss. Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that each occupies a different patch o' ground in the great American singer/songwriter landscape.

Comment by El Bicho on The Friday Morning Listen: John Mellencamp - Scarecrow

Fri, 9 May 2008 15:55:12 EDT

Anti-musical? I know you aren't much of a lyrics guy and maybe you got burned on some bad ones, but there are plenty of good musicals out there. I don't know if you saw in the news where the college SDSU had a major drug bust that involved 75 students and six fraternities? When my buddy used to go there in the mid-80s, his dorm mate had a four-foot bong which gave "passing the standpipe" a whole different meaning.

Comment by Glen Boyd on The Friday Morning Listen: John Mellencamp - Scarecrow

Fri, 9 May 2008 15:48:31 EDT

Wow. Our paths to Mellencamp are strikingly similiar. All my friends referred to JCM as a "cornfed Springsteen." I had one friend who even used to say if Springsteen was the "Boss" that Mellencamp was the "employee." But Scarecrow did it for me too, and like you Mark, Kenny Aronoff's monster drumming was a big, big factor. JCM's output has been pretty spotty since, but I liked last year's "Freedom's Road" a lot. We also share a fondness for King by the way. What I like about King's writing is the way he takes these everyday, ordinary characters who you really grow to like and identify with, and puts them in extraordinary situations. My review of "Cell" is up here on BC somewhere, but my favorite is his great vision of the Apocalypse, "The Stand." Great FML today Mark. -Glen

Comment by Josh Hathaway on The Friday Morning Listen: John Mellencamp - Scarecrow

Fri, 9 May 2008 10:20:11 EDT

I wasn't a big Mellencamp fan but I liked "Small Town" better than "My Hometown" back when radio was trying to turn Mellencamp and Springsteen into rivals. I still like "Small Town" better than "My Hometown," even though I'll take Springsteen over JCM any day of the week. Shit, there I go turning this into a comparative thing. Idiocy. Scarecrow is a mighty fine record. I liked some of Lonesome Jubilee as well. I have a 2-CD hits package of his and I dust it off semi-regularly.